Windows only: That extra thumb drive you have lying around is great for portable apps suites, but if you'd rather leave out the hardware altogether, free web service Spoon lets you run a ton of Windows programs right from the cloud. »12/09/10 8:30am 12/09/10 8:30am

Windows: If you're looking for a lightweight mind mapping tool to tuck on your flash drive, Bluemind is a speedy option with easy keyboard and GUI navigation, plenty of customization options, and support for multi-format exporting. »11/05/10 6:30am 11/05/10 6:30am

Windows: If you've forgone installing a Wiki because configuring and running your own web server seemed like a pain, DokuWiki on a Stick packs DokuWiki into a tiny and portable package perfect for USB drives and Dropbox folders. »10/25/10 10:00am 10/25/10 10:00am

Windows: Orzeszek Timer is a dead simple timer with flexible inputs. You can enter in countdown commands in over a half dozen different ways for quick and easy timer creation. »10/21/10 12:00pm 10/21/10 12:00pm

Windows/Mac/Linux: FocusWriter is a lightweight, portable, and feature rich word processor with an emphasis on distraction-free writing. You can skin it, set writing goals, and enjoy features not usually found in similar writing applications like spell checking and tabbed documents. »9/30/10 1:30pm 9/30/10 1:30pm

While flash drives are cheap and useful, they offer some disadvantages: they're small, easy to lose, and so often get overwritten with other data. For a more permanent portable apps solution, reader hradac recommends using your smartphone's SD card. »9/08/10 11:00am 9/08/10 11:00am

Windows only: Portable, open-source backup utility Create Synchronicity is a tiny but powerful way to run backups or synchronize folders on your system, an external drive, or to another PC on your network. »8/24/10 1:00pm 8/24/10 1:00pm

Windows: Tweak Me! is a powerful and portable tweak manager with support for multiple profiles—a perfect addition to a flash drive toolkit that sees action on a variety of Windows systems. »8/17/10 8:30am 8/17/10 8:30am

Linux's installation methods can come with certain annoyances when you're just testing apps, like needing extra repositories or dependencies. If you don't want to do a full app install, PortableLinuxApps.org can provide a (mostly) portable version for you to test out. »8/09/10 3:00pm 8/09/10 3:00pm

Windows only: The SysInternals suite of utilities, including the excellent Process Explorer tool, are a must-have for any serious geek, but they don't come with a built-in way to keep them updated. Here's how to keep them automatically updated. »7/29/10 1:00pm 7/29/10 1:00pm

Windows: If you're looking to get more out of the clipboard function than merely shuttling one-off snippets of text back and forth, ClipManager expands the text, image, and file handling power of the clipboard. »6/22/10 6:30am 6/22/10 6:30am

Windows only: Freeware note manager CintaNotes clips text from anywhere with a hotkey, finds notes as you type, and now the portable version synchronizes between PCs using Dropbox—without closing the application. »6/21/10 1:00pm 6/21/10 1:00pm

Windows: If you'd like to experiment with speed reading Speed Reader Enhanced is a tiny—23k download!—application for turning any block of pastable text into a speed reading exercise. »6/21/10 12:00pm 6/21/10 12:00pm

If seeing the PortableApps splash screen every single time you launch Portable Firefox gets on your nerves, you aren't alone, and thankfully there's a quick and easy solution to your problem. »6/16/10 1:00pm 6/16/10 1:00pm